Machine for making twine.



No. 697,4". Patented Apr. 8, I902.

L. J. MUNAHAN &. C. KIEREN.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TWINE.

' (Application filed Mar. 4, 1899.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets8heet l.

WITNESSES: INVENTORS.

: Nunms PETERS 00.. vuurg-Ln'uo. WASHINGTON, a. c.

. No. 697,4". Patented Apr. 8, I902. L. J.- MONAHAN &. C. KIEBEN. MACHINE FOR MAKING TWINE.

(Application. filed Mat. 4, 1899.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

THE NORRIS Pzrsns 00v, momumoq wasnmawn, u. c,

Patented Apr. 8, I902.

' L. .1. MUNAHAN &. c. KIEREN.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TWINE.

' (Application filed Mar. 4, 1899.)

4 Shbets-Shaet 3.

("0 Model.)

, WITNESSES No. 97,4. Patented Apr. 8; I902. L. J. MONAHAN & C. KIEBEN. 0mm: ron uA-xl'na TWINE.

Y (pm-m. filed Ear. 4, 1899.)

(In Ilodel.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

WITNESSES r l/V VE N 70/?8.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

LOUIS J. MONAHAN AND CONRAD KIEREN, OF OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN,

ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO EMIL H. STEIGER,OF FREMONT, WIS- CONSIN.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TWINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 697,411, dated April 8, 1902 Application filed March 4, 1899.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it kn own that we,LOUIS J. MONAHAN and CONRAD KIEREN,.citlZenS of the United States, residing at Oshkosh, county of Winnebago, State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Twine, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention has relation to machines formaking twine, the invention having particular reference to machines for making grass twine.

The primary object had in view is to produce an improved form of machine which will make a uniform size of twine and also a machine in which all the working parts are readily accessible for adjustment or repairs.

The invention furthermore contemplates as objects the provision of a construction whereby little or no slippage of the tension is required, to provide for readily removing an exhausted spool and replacing it with a new spoo1, and to provide for applying the thread closer to or farther away from the twister.

lVith the above and other incidental objects in view the invention consists of the devices and parts or their equivalents, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the nipper, showing the same in connection with the drum, a fragmentary section only of the drum being shown. Fig.4 is a side elevation of the feeding mechanism. Fig. 5 is a plan view of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the twisting and thread-carrying mechanism. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional View of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a section on the line 'y z of Fig. 7, and Fig. 9 is a front View. of the twister.

All the working parts of our machine are supported on suitable framework of any desirable and convenient construction. Mounted in a bearing in this frame is a shaft, which carries two disks N. Pivoted to the inner face of each disk, near the peripheral edge thereof, area series of fingers s, the pivot of each finger being advisably at a point between the ends of the finger. Mounted adjustably on extensions from the frame by Serial No. 707,759. (No model.)

means of set-screws and adjacent to the in ner faces ofthe disks N are cams t t of the contour clearly shown in Fig. 4. Also mounted on one end of the disk-shaft is a pulley r and adjacent to said pulley a bevel-gear Q, with which another bevel-gear (not shown) is in mesh'for the purpose of imparting rotation to the shaft. Any other desirable means, of course, for rotating the shaft may be provided.

The endless conveyer-belt is indicated by the letter u, said belt passing around suitable belt-pulleys, as shown in Fig. 4. The inner end of this belt ext-ends partly beneath the feeding-fingers s, and this tends-.to keep the material under the fingers at a regular tension. On one end of the shaft of the forward pulley of the conveyer u is mounted a pulley 0', which is connected to the pulley r on the disk-shaft by means of a crossed belt. (Shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4.) Bythis means the rotation of the disk-shaft is caused to move the conveyer in a direction to bring :worm for the purpose of imparting the necessary rotation. The periphery of the drum A is formed with a series of lines of diago-.

nallyarranged openings, as most clearly shown in Fig. 2, and one peripheral edge of the drum is formed or provided with an annular flange, through which openings are formed, as most clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The drum A carries a series of nippers,

each nipper comprising a pivoted jaw Vand a stationary jaw V. This stationary jaw may be a continuation of or an integral part of a standard U, said standard being passed through one of the holes in the periphery of the drum and being held thereto by means of nuts engaging the inner threaded end and turned against the inner side of the periphery of the drum, a shoulder on the standard clamping the outer side of the periphery of This shaft may said drum. The movable jaw V is'pivotally connected to a sliding rod T, which rod extends through the standard U and through one of the openings in the flange of the drum A. The outer end of each rod T is of hook form, and to this hook is connected one end of a coiled extension-spring R, the opposite end of said spring being connected to another hook, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. This spring effects the function of normally holding the pivoted or movable jaw in closed engagement with the fixed jaw. One of the jaws of the nipper has projecting therefrom a lug W, the end of said lug fitting in a recess in the other jaw. This lug is so spaced from the ends of the jaws of the nipper as to provide a space onlysuflicient to admit one length of the material to pass between the jaws.

Beneath the drum A are guide-plates F F, said plates being of any desirable material, but preferably of steel. These plates are supported by means of brackets E E. Pivoted to the upper plate F, near the end thereof which is farthest from the feeding mechanism, is an abutment e, which is forced downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4 by means of a spring w, the tension of said spring being regulated by means of a screw at. It will be understood that the grass or other material is forced by the fingers 8 into the space between the plates F F and beneath the drum A. The tension of the spring to is sufficient to retain between the plates the proper amountof the grass or other material. If, however, too much grass or material is fed between the plates F, the abutment 1; is raised by the pressure of the material and the surplus material thereby permitted to discharge.

Suitably supported by the frame are cams D D and are preferably of the form of antifriction-rollers. These cams are arranged at the point where the nippers are required to open. Herctofore stationary cams have been employed for the purpose of opening the nippers, but these have been found objectionable owing to the excessive wear which they produce on the nippers. Byproviding cams of the form of antifriction-rollers friction and wear are very materially reduced.

Arranged beneath the drum A is an inclined pan or receptacle G, which is to receive the grass as it is released by a nipper and to conduct the same to the twisting mechanism.

Referring now to the twisting mechanism, the letter H indicates a shaft rotated by any suitable means, preferably by means of a pulley 11, around which a belt (not shown) leading from any suitable source of power may pass. YVithin the shaft H is formed or provided a conical passage. The conical passage serves the function of receiving the grass from the pan G. Fastened to or in one with the shaft H is a disk H. Pivoted to this disk are jaws c c, and fast to said jaws or integral therewith are projecting arms (I d which form in connection with the jaws bellcrank levers. Adjustably mounted on the arms (1 (Z are weights (Z (Z. If the arms (1 and the weights (Z d were not employed, the centrifugal force, caused by the rapid rotation of the twister, would cause the jaws to fly outwardly, and thus lose their power to twist properly. To overcome this, we have provided the said arms (Z and weights (Z d, said weights being adjusted in a position to counteract the centrifugal force. The jaws are acted upon by springs 12 I), which springs tend to hold the jaws together while effecting the function of twisting.- The tension of the springs may be regulated by means of screws e.

The letter K indicates a thread carrying shaft, which is mounted in a suitable upwardly-extending bearing. This shaft carries a pulley K, around which a belt is adapted to be passed for transmitting rotation to the shaft. A spool of thread I is fitted on the shaft K, said spool bearing at one side against an annular shoulder formed on the shaft and having a nut g turned against its opposite side.

The letter J indicates a tension-carrying shaft, which extends through the shaft K, its opposite ends projecting beyond the ends of said shaft K. On one projecting end is mounted a pulley J, around which a belt is adapted to be passed for the purpose of rotating the shaft. The other projecting end of the shaft carries a tension f, which tension is advisably in the form of a split collar, which may he slipped on the shaft or screwed fast to the shaft, as the case may require, as it is one of the objects of this invention to run the tension without slipping when possible. This object is accomplished bydriving the tension-carrying shaft J slower than the thread -carrying shaft K. Extending from the tension-collar fis a spring-arm h, whichis formed at its free end with a book. The thread from the spool I is made to engage this hook and is then extended to position for being wrapped around the twisted grass.

In order to remove the spool I when necessary to replace it with a new spool, we provide an adjustment of the standard, which forms a bearing for the thread-earryin g shaft K. This standard is normally held by means of a pin it. In order to adjust the standard farther away from the twister, so as to provide room for removing the spool I, a pivoted lever Z is manipulated, the pivot of the lever being designated by the letter on. This manipulation after the pin a has been removed, as aforesaid, will cause the standard and parts carried therebyto be slid along the base a. The spool can then be removed and a new one substituted. The lever Z is then manipulated in the opposite direction to bring the parts back to their former position, and after this the pin a is again inserted in place.

l/Vhere it is necessary to make stronger twine for different purposes, the thread must be applied closer to'the twister. To provide for this, a plate 0 is seated in a recess in the base a, and this plate is somewhat less in length than the length of the'recess. The plate is provided with an "elongated opening through which a set-screw p is passed and is turned into the base a. whenever this setscrew is loosened, the plate 0, and consequently the standard which forms a bearing for the shaft K, can be moved toward the twister, together with said shaft K and the other parts. After the required adjustment is obtained the screw 19 is again tightened.

The letter M indicates a rotatable draw-' wheel, which serves the function of drawing the material from the pan G through the twister and finally through'the bore' of the shaft J, the finished article being then wound on balls or other convenient devices. The wheel M may be rotated in any desirable manner; but we have shown teeth thereon adapted to be engaged by a worm mounted on a short shaft, said shaft carrying a pulley, around which a belt is adapted to be passed: for rotating theshaft.

In the operation .of our machine the mate-- rial, preferably'grass or hay, is placed on the belt to and is conveyed by said belt in a direction to be acted upon by thefingers s. At

the same time the disks N, carrying the fingers s, are rotated'in a direction to cause the engagement of said fingers with the material so carried by the conveyor. These fingers catch the material and carry it along between the plates F, the part '0 acting as an abutment to hold the material back under the drumA at a proper tension. The fingers s, as pre-' viously explained, are pivoted or hung loosely, on the disks N, and the upper ends of-thefingers come in contact with the cams band are thereby prevented-from swinging back while forcing the material forward. After afinger has been carriedsufficiently far to-cause its upper end'to disengage froma cam said finger is permitted to tip back, and thereby slip out of the material without breaking o'rinjuring' the material. The cams i may be adjusted by loosening the set-screws which hold the same andmoving said cams forward or backward to thereby permit the fingers sto leavethe material earlier or later, as may be required, whereby the length of-time of the engagement of the-fingers with the material is regulated and the danger of injuring or breaking the material thereby avoided; Where stiff grass" is used, it is particularly important that this adjustment of the cams'be provided-for; As the'drum A rotates the inner end of the rod T of-one of thenippers will bebroughtinto' engagement with the cam D,"and this will cause a turning of the pivoted jaw V and a consequent opening of the nippers. This will permit one length of the grass or material to be admitted between the jaws of the nipper, the lug W, as previously explained, limiting the space between the jaws tosuch an extent as to only admit one length of the material. With the continued rotation of the drum A' the rod T leaves the'cam D, and the pivoted tubular shaft J.

jaw-V- then immediately closes by the action of the spring R and securely'holds'the single length of grass. When the nipper referred to reaches the cam D, the rod'T is again acted upon and the nipper thereby opened and thelength of grass deposited in the pan G.- All the several nippers carried by the drum are acted-upon in the same manner and the lengths of grass deposited in the pan Gin the manner pointed out.

At the begin ning of the operation of the machine the first 'few'lengths of grass are forced by hand between the jaws c c, and until the material reaches'the required length to extend to the draw-wheel M it must be pulledthrough the It will be understood, however,-that when the material is of a length to engage the draw-wheel M the operation of thein achine thereafter is entirely automatic, the grass-being fed into the pan G, thence sliding down said'pan into the conical passage'of the shaft H thence being drawnbe tween the jaws of the twister, and "finally drawn through the tubular shaft J by the action of th'e'dra'w-wheel M. -As-the grass is firmly clamped and held by the jawsc c andas the disk H carrying said jaws in the operation of the machine isrotating, it is obvious that the lengths of grass are necessarilytightly twisted together. It will also be un' derstood'that at the first starting of the machine the thread from the spool 1* is wound" slightly by 'hand around the twisted grass. The rotation of the thread-carrying sh'aft'K continues the winding of the thread throughout the'furt'her operation of the'in'achine, the

winding of the thread around the' twisted grass holding the twisted strands of'the grass together. A

The spring h,-carried by the, tension f, com

pensates for any slight jerks that may occur,

and-thus saves thethread from breaking.

It will be understood thatthe'shaft Ji'is drivenin the same direction as the'shaft K; but in order to obviate the'necessity of the tension slipping,

IIO

' as has heretofore been found necessary in order to wind the thread on the tw'ine,we prefer to drive the-tension= carrying shaft J at aslower rate of speed than the thread-carrying shaft K.

Attention is further directed to the fact that the shaftH which carries the twister,is rotated'inan opposite direction to the tension andspool-carrying shafts.

Inasmuch as the tapering passage is located in the'shaftH it is obvious thatsaid passage is constantly revolving during the operation of the machine. This presents an advantage,

inasmuch as said passage is thereby kept-in' line with the twister-jaws at alltimesz" In other words, if the tension-carrying'shaftand the spool-carrying shaft are run-in the'same the thread would not wind around the lengths of the material. It is desirableto'do away lengths of the material.

with the necessity for providing for the slipping of the tension, and we have therefore obviated this difficulty by running the tension-carrying shaft at a slower rate of speed than the spool-carrying shaft and that by a fine adjustment of the speeds there will be no slippage required. Of course by this arrangement a continual lessening in the tension on the thread would occur were it not for the fact that the slack so produced is taken up by the winding of the thread around the It will also be noticed that in our construction the tapering passage extends a slight distance into the space between the two jaws, so that the feeding of the lengths of grass to the jaws is insured.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine for making twine, the combination, of movable conveying mechanism, a rotatable part, fingers loosely hung on said rotatable part, said fingers adapted to engage and feed the material carried by the conveying mechanism, and an adjustable cam with which the fingers are adapted to make direct contact while said fingers are engaging the material.

2. In a machine for makingtwine, thecombination, of a twister, means for rotating the same, a tension-carrying shaft, a tension device carried thereby, a spool or thread carrying shaft, means for rotating the tensioncarrying shaft, and means for rotating the spool or thread carrying shaft at a faster rate of speed than the tension-carrying shaft, said tension-carryingshaftand the spool or thread carrying shaft being rotated in the same direction with each other, but in a different direction from the twister.

3. In a machine for making twine, the combination, of a tension-carrying shaft, a tension device carried by the shaft, said tension device consisting of a split collar engaging the shaft and adapted to be held thereto by friction, means for adjusting the friction of the collar, a thread-carrying shaft adapted to rotate about the tension-carrying shaft, and a spring-arm extending from the split collar, said arm adapted to carry and take the thread from the thread-carrying shaft.

4. In a machine for making twine, the combination, of means for forming lengths of material into twine, a bearing, a shaft journaled in said bearing, a spool of thread removably mounted on the shaft, and means for releasably holding the bearing, whereby when the holding means is released the bearing can be adjusted farther away from the twine-forming mechanism in order to permit of the removal of the spool and the substitution of a new spool.

5. In a machine for making twine, the combination, of means for forming the lengths of material into twine, astandard, a tension-carrying device and a spool-carrying device carried by the standard, an adjustable plate, a connection between the plate and the standard, and means for holding the plate in adjusted position, whereby the tension-carrying device and the spool carrying device are brought closer to or farther away from the twine-forming mechanism. (3. In a machine of the class described, a wrapping mechanism comprising a tubular shaft, the material to be wrapped arranged to pass longitudinally through said shaft, a tension device loosely mounted on said shaft and held thereto by friction, a thread-carrying shaft sleeved upon the tension-carrying shaft, a thread or cord guide carried by the tension device, and means for adjusting the frictional engagement of the tension device with its shaft.

LOUIS J. MONAIIAN. CONRAD KIEREN.

In presence of BER. J. DALY, GEO. M. CRAWFORD. 

